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An Evening to Remember at the Restaurant d'Hiver, Le
Hôtel Bristol -- Paris
The evening was imbued with the sense of visiting the
childhood home of a friend who had long since moved away. How many were
the times when we celebrated some special event at La Caravelle (one of
New York's great French restaurants that sadly closed in 2008), when
proprietor André Jammet would stop by our table and end up reminiscing
about the Parisian hotel where he was born. And now, here we were at the
18th century palace that his grandfather had opened as Le Hôtel Bristol
in 1925.
It was a
brilliant, starry night on the rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, and the
brilliance continued into the gilded and creamy marble lobby of the
hotel that sparkled with the light of Baccarat chandeliers reflected in
wooden floors polished to a mirror-like glow. Directly ahead was the
dining room, as oval as an egg, and tall and wide as a ballroom, its
richly paneled walls adorned with antique tapestries and fronted with
spectacular floral displays. It was the kind of grandeur the French
manage so well, and of a piece -- with Louis XV chairs upholstered in
deep rose brocade and draperies of silky topaz gracing ceiling-high
windows.
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All of which contributed to an
ambience well suited to the Restaurant d'Hiver or Restaurant of
the Winter. (In the warmer months, the dining scene moves to the
Restaurant d'Eté or Restaurant of the Summer which looks out to
the fountained, flower-filled garden at the heart of the hotel.)
At its helm is the gifted and voluble chef from Normandy, Eric
Fréchon, who had worked in Le Bristol's kitchen very early on in
his career. Subsequently he honed his craft at other restaurants
in France and one in Spain, eventually moving up to such stellar
destinations as La Tour d’Argent and Les Ambassadeurs in the
nearby Hôtel de Crillon. But ultimately, Eric Fréchon returned
full circle to where he began and, in the process, led Le Bristol to
its third Michelin star. That it was the only restaurant elevated to the
exalted status in 2009 only adds to the distinction.
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In
contemplating what makes a restaurant worthy of the third star, one
would, of necessity, have to begin with the menu and its execution. Le
Bristol's "Table d'Hiver" lists traditional French courses like duck
foie gras served in a wrap with smoked oysters, braised veal sweetbreads
with dried fennel, and a Bresse hen cooked in a bladder with crayfish
and black truffles (for two). But there is a contemporary twist in the
emphasis on the releasing of natural flavors; a fresh approach to the
combination of ingredients, to their infusion with spices and fresh
herbs; what appears to be a purity of preparation with many dishes pan-
fried, or roasted, or grilled "a la plancha" (like the excellent
scallops). There is a simplicity in the offerings: five meat and five
fish dishes; seven starters, a selection of fine, aged cheeses, fruit or
chocolate-based desserts plus a pair of fantasies labeled "Pure
Creations."
The amuse
bouche tray presents miniature portions of specialties: oyster tartar
served with cucumber, pork with horseradish emulsion, scallops with
mushrooms and black truffles that, happily, have just come into season.
They would appear again in the flavorful pan-fried sea bass where
slithers of spring onion were slipped between a pair of filets. And
again in what was the defining dish of the evening: macaroni, the size
and shape of cigars, stuffed with the truffles, artichokes, and duck
foie gras, topped with grilled parmesan cheese and served in a chicken
sauce and truffle juice. The pleasure this dish gave was so exceptional,
it lingers in taste-bud memory to this day. It came as no surprise to
learn it is the favorite of a famous and frequent Le Bristol diner,
President Nicolas Sarkozy, who recently bestowed the coveted French
Legion of Honor on Chef Fréchon.
| Only four months on the job,
sommelier Marco Pelletier had added 300 new references to the
50,000-bottle cellar. "We plan to build an even more interesting
wine cellar," he told us and recommended one of his additions: a
white produced near Bordeaux that combined Sauvignon, Muscatella
-- which is like Sauterne but very dry, and Sémillon. It is the
last grape, he explained, that adds richness. "The wine is a
1999 vintage," Marco said. "Having had a bit more evolution, it
has more of the hazelnut and fresh almond flavors from the
Sémillon. At the same time, the acidity has slowly decreased and
become integrated into the wine. With the food you are having,
this is a good choice." So it was. The attention, knowledge, and
products this sommelier was able to choose from, it seemed to
us, figured handily into the Michelin rating. As did the sublime
desserts prepared by Head Pastry Chef Laurent Jeannin, another
alumnus of Les Ambassadeurs, chief among them, we thought, the
coffee-glazed roast hazelnut biscuit in a caramel emulsion.
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Sommelier Marco Pelletier |
Restaurant Manager Raphaël Courant |
| And yet the food and wine, while paramount
perhaps, are not the whole story. Surely the overall environment
entered into whatever thinking resulted in the awarding of the
third star. There is the beautiful, well-lit, spacious dining
room, the fine table linens, lovely china, crystal and silver,
the exquisite floral arrangements. And something more -- the
people backstage preparing the food with talent and efficiency,
and those on the floor: restaurant manager Raphaël Courant,
overlooking the scene unobtrusively but at the same time
assuring the perfection of every step taken during the evening,
the young woman who handled the cheese trolley, expertly
describing each offering, the young man who uncorked the wine --
tasting it himself in a small glass before proffering it, our
server who explained every option with expertise and enthusiasm,
all of the servers and clearers, their impeccable sense of
timing, of knowing just when to remove a dish, refill a water or
wine glass, add a piece of flatware, refold a napkin, the sense
each possessed of anticipating every need. |
Some of the team in Restaurant d'Hiver
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Their
participation in the graceful choreography of the evening refined an
experience that was relished and will be recalled with great fondness --
dining at the Hôtel Le Bristol, Paris.
Hôtel Le Bristol
112, rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré
75008 Paris, France
Phone: 33 (0)1 53 43 43 00
Web: www.lebristolparis.com
Photos by Harvey Frommer
# # #
About the
Authors: Myrna Katz Frommer and Harvey Frommer are a wife and husband team who
successfully bridge the worlds of popular culture and traditional scholarship.
Co-authors of the critically acclaimed interactive oral histories It Happened in
the Catskills, It Happened in Brooklyn, Growing Up Jewish in America, It
Happened on Broadway, and It Happened in Manhattan, they teach what they
practice as professors at Dartmouth College.
They are also travel writers who specialize in luxury properties and fine dining
as well as cultural history and Jewish history and heritage in the United
States, Europe, and the Caribbean. (More
about these authors.)
You can contact the Frommers at:
Email: myrna.frommer@Dartmouth.EDU
(myrna frommer)
Email: harvey.frommer@dartmouth.edu
Web:
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~frommer/travel.htm.
This Article is Copyright © 1995 - 2010 by Harvey and Myrna Frommer. All rights
reserved worldwide.
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